Theresa May hits back at Philip Hammond in row over ‘legacy’ spending plans

Theresa May hits back at Philip Hammond in row over ‘legacy’ spending plans insisting she is STILL in charge of the country and wants £9BILLION for schools

Mrs May wants Chancellor to sign off a multi-billion-pound package for schools

Last week Mr Hammond threatened to quit over the sudden splurge

He believes the decisions should now be made by her successor

By Jack Doyle In Osaka For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 01:16 BST, 30 June 2019 | Updated: 01:16 BST, 30 June 2019

Theresa May has hit back at Philip Hammond in their simmering row over her ‘legacy’ spending plans – and insisted she’s still in charge of the country.

Despite having less than four weeks left at No 10, Mrs May wants the Chancellor to sign off a multi-billion-pound spending package for schools.

Last week he threatened to quit over what he sees as an irresponsible splurge – and has told friends the decisions should now be made by her successor.

Theresa May has insisted she is still in charge of the country amid a row with Philip Hammond over her ‘legacy’ spending plans

A series of meetings between Hammond, May and Education Secretary Damian Hinds over the past week failed to break the impasse. Mrs May wanted to announce a three-year, £27 billion education boost that would have seen schools start benefiting from the new school year in September.

This was then scaled back to £9 billion for one year. But the Chancellor is refusing to hand over a single penny.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has threatened to quit over what he sees as an irresponsible splurge

Downing Street insiders say that a decision on school funding must be agreed before she leaves office. One MP, a close ally of the PM, described Hammond as a ‘stubborn b******’. Speaking at the G20 in Osaka, Japan, Mrs May said she would carry on making what she saw as the ‘right decisions for this country’.

Asked how she justified binding the hands of either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, she replied: ‘Look, government is continuing.

‘I’ve still got work to do as Prime Minister until I hand over to my successor.’

Mrs May pointed to her adoption of the ‘net zero’ emissions target as being a ‘very good example of that’.The pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions, which became law this week, was also the source of bitter clashes with Mr Hammond.

In a letter to Mrs May, which was leaked to a newspaper, he warned the cost of moving to net zero is likely to be ‘well in excess of a trillion pounds’ – and would mean less money for schools, the NHS and other areas of public spending.

On Friday, Boris Johnson pledged to reverse real-terms education cuts by increasing funding by £4.6 billion per year by 2022/23.